• 
177 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


IN  JUSTICE  TO  THE  NATION. 


AMERICAN    HISTORY 


IN 


American  Schools,  Colleges,  and  Universities. 


r  ^ 

'/,  \1  .  C 


^t*~^ 


BY 

FRANCIS    NEWTON    THORPE,  PH.D.,  i 

FELLOW  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


REPRINT  FROM   "EDUCATION:'} 
1886. 


V.ihmrt 
IN    JUSTICE    TO   THE    NATION. 


BY   FRANCIS    NEWTON    THORPE,  PH.  D., 
Fellow  in  Political  Science,   University  of   Pennsylvania. 


WHEN  the  people  of  the  United  States  realized  that  they 
were    a   nation,  they  began  to  study  their  own   history. 
Lincoln,  speaking  to  a  generation  in  arms  for  this  national- 
ity, said,  "  We  are  making  history  very  fast."     Before  the  war, 
our  history  was  little  studied  in  the  West ;   in  the  East  and  the 
South  attention  was  chiefly  given  to  colonial  and  local  history. 
But  during  the  national  and  international  changes  incident   to 
the  events  of  1865,  our  history  assumed  a  character  of  its  own  ; 
and  the  study  of  it  was  begun   in  v  fow\high^rsinstitutions  of 
learning. 

The  Nation  had  be-  a  new  et~  ,  A  Auction  was  stimulated  ; 
interstate  commerce  fostered ;  immigration  encouraged ;  states 
founded ;  hostile  institutions  swept  away  ;  inventions  in  the  arts, 
in  the  sciences,  in  the  means  of  enjoying  life  perfected.  The  whole 
country  became  intensely  active  in  the  promotion  of  every  inter- 
est, and  material  progress  was  phenomenal.  The  effect  continues 
to  this  day.  It  is  seen  on  every  hand, — in  the  life  at  the  univer- 
sity, in  the  noisy  life  of  the  street.  Our  national  life  and  our 
individual  lives,  both  practically  and  sentimentally,  show  the 
effects  of  that  mighty  convulsion  in  the  state  which,  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago,  ended  the  old  era  and  ushered  in  the  new. 


(4) 

The  Nation  is  a  moral  person  ;  its  history  is  that  of  organic 
development.  We  are  not  first  nor  last ;  we  come  in  the  moral 
order  of  the  world.  There  is,  in  the  process  of  history,  "  an 
organic  unity  of  the  Divine  idea ;  and  it  holds  a  purpose  in  and 
through,  and  uniting  the  ages.  .  .  .  Thus  it  has  been  said,  '  The 
history  of.  the  world  cannot  be  understood  apart  from  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  world.' ' 

Bancroft  and  Hildreth  are  our  historians ;  but  our  history  is 
yet  to  be  written.  The  revival  of  historical  studies  in  our  gener- 
ation is  a  step  forward,  and  toward  that  consummation, — the  pro- 
duction of  a  complete  history  of  America.  Documentary  his- 
tory is  tedious  ;  statistics  are  not  men  in  action  ;  the  record  of 
the  pulse  is  not  the  pulse.  We  have  neglected  the  study  of  our 
institutions.  Politics,  as  commonly  understood,  form  only  a  part 
of  our  interests.  With  what  delight  has  the  History  of  the  Peo- 
ple of  the  United  States,  by  McMaster,  been  read  by  his  country- 
men ;  and  it  is  written  from  material  gathered  from  a  long  neg- 
lected source.  The  study  of  American  economics  is  changing 
ourhistorical  perspective.  The  least  has  become  the  greatest ; 
the  neglected  has  become  interesting.  The  useless  as  it  was 
becomes  the  useful  as  it  is.  Our  various  American  life  demands 
not  merely  some  new  thing,  but  things.  We  seek,  like  Bacon, 
for  "  fruit."  Economics  is  a  genera]  expression,  in  the  vocabu. 
lary  of  our  investigators,  of  the  causes  of  the  wealth  of  nations, 
and  signifies  all  that  makes  for  material  progress  in  the  affairs  of 
the  nation.  It  includes  our  industries  as  such,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  allied  to  that  study  of  mind  which  teaches  us  to  look 
back  of  the  machine  to  its  Maker  for  the  best  source  of  knowl- 
edge, concerning  the  machine.  Economics  connect,  as  a  scien- 
tific study,  ethics  and  physics  or  mechanics.  Our  industrial 
history  is  as  old  as  our  political  or  our  financial ;  but  it  is  not  so 
well  understood. 

Economics  have  been  so  theoretically  studied  and  so  theoret- 
ically presented  that  they  have  not  gained,  at  the  hands  of  our 
political  economists,  the  confidence  of  the  people.  We  are  not 
a  people  tolerant  toward  theorists,  although  we  build  theories  for 
everything  which  we  do  not  take  time  to  investigate.  We  are  a 
very  practical  people,  but,  as  must  be  the  case,  also  a  people 
much  given  to  theorizing.  Perhaps  the  best  indication  of  the 
revival  of  economical  studies  from  the  dead  past  of  pure  specu- 


(5) 

lation  is  the  founding  of  the  American  Economic  Association 
which,  as  an  association  of  the  younger  and  many  of  the  older 
economists  of  the  country,  purposes  to  base  doctrine  upon  facts, 
and  facts  upon  such  a  careful  study  of  economic  elements  as  will 
bear  such  economic  fruit  that  the  people  may  eat  thereof  and 
become  wiser.  A  system  of  economics  which  begins  a  priori, 
and  ends  as  it  begins,  has  little  to  commend  itself,  and  can  effect 
nothing  for  the  clearing  away  of  such  difficulties  as  strikes,  or 
any  of  the  causes  which  produce  strikes.  But  economics,  like 
history,  has,  as  a  science,  a  new  birth  now ;  and  arm  in  arm  the 
student  of  one  with  the  student  of  the  other  walks  in  the  same 
path, — the  course  of  the  nation, — its  highway  ;  and  each  gathers 
there  the  fruit  that  has  long  been  ripening.  It  may  be  said  that 
these  two  studies,  history  and  economics,  are  the  important  ones 
in  the  education  of  every  American  youth  ;  one  pertains  to  the 
past,  the  other  looks  toward  the  future  ;  together  they  mirror  the 
life  of  the  nation.  As  the  nation  ages,  its  opinions  concerning 
itself  change.  It  desires  to  view  itself  from  many  points  ;  it 
seeks  to  know  its  daily  life,  its  institutions, — their  origin  and 
their  nature.  Above  all,  it  desires  to  understand  its  present 
interests,  economic,  political,  ethical.  To  history  and  economics 
must  be  added  biology,  as  the  third  study  of  our  day.  Biology 
is  the  study  of  life  in  action  ;  instructural  investigations  laid 
bare.  The  methods  of  investigation  in  each  of  these  studies  are 
the  same  in  principle. 

In  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  our  universities  and 
colleges,  the  study  of  American  history  is  confined  to  the  study 
of  one  text-book.  This  has  gone  so  far  in  our  public  schools 
that  one  text-book,  pushed  into  the  school  by  some  energetic 
publisher,  has  maintained  its  place,  though  later  and  better 
books  are  now  accessible.  An  examination  of  the  ordinary  text 
of  American  history  shows  that  about  one-third  of  the  book 
is  devoted  to  pictures,  about  two -thirds  to  American  history 
before  1789,  and  the  remainder  to  the  history  of  the  United 
States  ;  few  maps  are  inserted,  and  these  are  too  often  inaccu- 
rate and  useless.  In  this  brief  treatment  of  the  history  of  this 
nation  social  history  is  omitted  ;  the  text  is  chronology,  or  poli- 
tics so  called. 

In  our  public  schools,  American  history  should  not  be  taught 
to  load  the  memory  of  children  with  the  barren  records  of  elec- 


(6) 

tions,  defeats,  and  martial  deeds.  Every  American  who  becomes 
a  true  citizen  enters  upon  responsibilities  which  he  should  have 
opportunity  to  study  before  assuming  them.  This  is  the  just 
claim  for  having  our  history  studied  in  the  public  schools.  That 
study  should  be  at  first  chiefly  geographical  and  sociological. 
The  child  should  be  able  to  see  from  consecutive  maps  how  the 
nation  has  grown  and  has  spread  its  power  over  this  continent ; 
he  should  be  taught  the  social  development  of  this  people  ;  how 
they  have  founded  states,  built  highways,  railroads,  canals,  steam- 
ship lines  ;  how  our  commerce  has  grown  and  why  it  has  grown  ; 
what  we  require  to  support  ourselves,  and  where  and  how  we 
raise  it ;  what  is  the  nature  of  our  manufactures,  and  what  the 
condition  and  relations  between  employer  and  employee.  Above 
all,  the  child  should  be  taught  the  homely  facts  of  history  as  they 
are  about  him.  The  town  is  the  first  subject  for  study ;  then 
the  township,  the  city,  the  county,  the  state,  the  nation.  It  is  a 
just  criticism,  that  m  the  public  schools  we  learned  nothing  of 
this  ;  we  learned  nothing  of  the  nature  of  the  ordinary  civil 
offices. 

A  child  of  ten  years  could  understand  the  nature  of  the  duties 
of  auditor,  assessor,  tax-collector,  council,  mayor.  There  is  no 
a  locality  in  which  the  child  may  not  collect  material  for  local 
history,  and  thus  form  a  foundation  for  the  study  of  the  commu- 
nity and  the  state.  If  all  teachers  who  attempt  to  instruct  in 
American  history  could  understand  that  our  history  exists  out- 
side of  Harrisburgh  and  Washington,  and  would  teach  children 
what  children  most  need  to  know,  and  would  develop  the  life  of 
the  nation,  historically,  m  the  mind  of  the  child,  our  history 
would  live  in  and  with  the  child,  and  his  knowledge  of  it  would 
be  a  conscious  power  working  for  his  happiness. 

The  introduction  of  the  study  of  American  history  into  the 
public  schools  resulted  in  the  requirement  of  some  knowledge  of 
it  from  those  coming  up  to  college.  The  book  usually  designated 
by  the  faculty  is  one  of  "  essentials,"  which  the  boy,  by  a  process 
of  mental  cramming  peculiar  to  candidates,  carries  loosely  in  his 
memory  till  he  has  unloaded  himself  in  an  entrance  examination. 
If  he  fails,  he  is  not  conditioned,  because  there  is  no  way  of 
removing  the  condition  ;  if  he  passes,  he  straightway  forgets  his 
information,  and  usually  never  takes  American  History  again. 
A  condition  in  ancient  or  in  modern  European  history  is  a  real- 


(7) 

ity,  and  can  only  be  removed  by  such  systematic  coaching  as  will 
satisfy  a  learned  professor.  The  boy  entering  college  is  -  not 
obliged  to  know  the  outlines  of  the  history  of  his  own  country, 
but  he  is  obliged  to  know  the  outlines  of  the  history  of  Europe. 
The  reasons  for  examining  a  boy  in  European  history  for  admis- 
sion to  college  apply  equally  to  American  history ;  there  should 
be  an  intelligent  study  of  our  own  history  in  our  public  schools, 
in  our  college  preparatory  schools,  and  an  examination  that  is 
not  a  college  fiction  for  entrance  into  college. 

In  our  public  and  private  preparatory  schools  American  his- 
tory is  not  taught,  on  the  average,  above  five  recitations  a  week, 
not  to  exceed  thirty  minutes  a  lesson  ;  and  the  total  amount  of 
this  study  averages  not  over  six  months  in  the  school  life  of 
the  child.  In  some  town  and  city  schools  it  is  pursued  by 
a  few  pupils  in  the  high  schools  for  one  year;  but  this  is 
usually  in  connection  with  the  so  called  general  history  course. 
There  are  no  special  teachers  of  American  institutions  in  Amer- 
ican schools  below  the  university,  and  few  universities  have  such 
teachers.  In  the  preparatory  schools  the  prevailing  method  of 
instruction  is  as  follows  :  The  teacher  assigns  a  fixed  number  of 
pages  in  the  text-book  to  be  memorized  ;  pupils  repeat  text-book 
in  recitation  ;  they  are  examined  in  text-book  and  the  subject 
is  dropped,  and  usually  willingly.  This  method  (sic)  prevails  in 
large  cities  and  in  crowded  schools,  and  is  the  sine  qua  non  of 
every  teacher  ( ! ! )  who  is  compelled  to  hear  lessons  which  he 
does  not  understand.  It  does  not  permit  the  use  of  different 
texts,  because  the  teacher  is  required  to  get  his  pupils  past  a 
dreaded  examination  :  for  if  a  certain  minimum  is  not  passed, 
the  school  board  employs  a  new  teacher  ( !  ! )  to  hear  the  les- 
sons. The  result  is  that  thousands  pass  from  these  schools  with 
a  brief  mental  encumbrance  of  names,  dates,  and  events, — mere 
baggage.  In  later  life  it  proves  its  worthlessness  and  is  cast 
away,  and  the  man  knows  that  the  public  school  did  him  more 
harm  than  good,  so  far  as  it  tried  to  teach  him  American  history. 

In  other  schools,  of  similar  grade,  no  text-book  is  used.  The 
teacher  talks,  and  pupils  take  notes.  The  teacher  is  not  a  spe- 
cial student  of  history.  He  talks  text-book  on  a  small  scale. 
The  notes  of  pupils  are  disconnected  statements  swept  together 
into  a  "  table,"  which  is  to  be  memorized.  The  recitation  is  the 
"  story,"  after  the  teacher,  and  with  unique  variations  by  the 


(8) 

child.  The  teacher  abbreviates  the  text-book,  which  abbreviates 
the  larger  work.  The  child  abbreviates  the  teacher.  The  results 
are,  a  meager  amount  of  disconnected  facts,  and  a  certain  uncer- 
tainty in  the  mind  of  the  pupil  that  leaves  him  conscious  only  of 
his  ignorance.  In  college  the  talk  becomes  a  lecture ;  but  the 
conditions  under  which  it  is  given  are  too  often  similar  to  those 
in  the  preparatory  school. 

Few  public  schools  have  libraries  ;  and  fewer,  a  collection  of 
historical  books.  In  our  own  history  there  is  rarely  a  single  book. 
Some  teachers,  at  times,  read  to  their  classes  selections  from 
standard  writers.  This  is  rare ;  time  and  the  course  forbid  it. 
The  extract  is  only  the  expansion  of  a  single  line,  and  other 
lines  are  equally  important.  In  rare  instances  the  teacher, 
though  not  specially  trained  in  history,  is  fond  of  it,  and  is  then 
in  danger  of  public  criticism  for  not  preferring  arithmetic.  He 
gathers  a  few  war  histories,  biographies,  and  text-books  sent  him 
by  careful  publishers,  and  with  these  not  ineffective  tools  he  suc- 
ceeds in  teaching  a  few  facts,  though  the  principal  one  is  that 
the  books  do  not  agree. 

In  some  schools, — and  they  are  few  in  number, — whose  classes 
have  access  to  public  and  private  libraries,  the  teacher  prescribes 
readings  from  standard  authors.  Pupils  report  these  orally,  or  by 
brief  quotations  or  digests  of  authors  read.  Usually  there  are 
not  enough  copies  of  the  prescribed  books  in  the  library  for  each 
member  of  the  class.  Thus  the  reading  is  done  by  a  few  who 
take  special  interest.  Sometimes,  to  avoid  this,  the  class  is 
divided  into  committees  that  work  up  separate  subjects  and 
report  results  to  the  entire  class.  At  stated  times  the  teacher 
meets  his  class,  and  the  results  are  worked  together  into  a  whole. 
The  work  is  supplemented  by  the  teacher  with  informal  lectures. 
This  is  the  first  step  in  our  preparatory  schools  toward  the  his- 
torical seminary.  Children,  thus  taught,  acquire  a  few  ideas  of 
American  history  which  will  stand  the  test  of  truth  and  the  trial 
of  time.  In  later  life  it  proves  to  have  been  an  intelligent  intro- 
duction to  a  knowledge  of  American  institutions. 

These  three  methods,  —  the  text-book,  the  "  story,"  and  the 
seminary, — represent  the  methods  now  in  use  in  our  preparatory 
schools.  Incidental  to  them,  but  found  only  in  the  third,  are, 
class  debates  ;  reading  of  historical  tales  and  poems  ;  making  of 
maps  on  paper,  in  clay  relief,  in  colors;  the  collecting  of  relics 


(9) 

and  curiosities  ;  seeing  plays  acted  ;  visiting  museums  and 
places  of  historic  interest,  and  hearing  lectures  pertaining  to  the 
subject. 

Of  the  pupils  in  the  public  schools  eighty  per  cent,  never 
reach  the  high  school,  and  ninety-five  per  cent,  never  reach  col- 
lege. Of  those  who  enter  college  more  than  twenty-five  per 
cent,  never  take  a  degree,  and  usually  drop  out  before  the  junior 
class.  After  a  somewhat  careful  examination  of  the  subject,  the 
conclusion  is  forced  upon  us,  that  in  these  schools  for  elementary 
instruction  the  study  of  American  history,  as  at  present  con- 
ducted, is,  with  few  exceptions,  time  wasted,  money  wasted, 
energy  wasted,  history  perverted,  and  intelligent  elementary 
knowledge  of  the  subject  stifled  It  is  merely  mechanical,  and 
such  a  manufacturing  of  opinion  by  mere  text-books  that  it  is 
productive  only  of  aversion  to  calm  and  unprejudiced  examina- 
tion of  our  institutions.  We  are  sensitive  on  the  subject  of  our 
public  schools.  They  are  "  the  people's  university."  and  we 
boast  of  them  to  foreigners  and  neglect  them  ourselves.  Educa- 
tion is  yet  an  affair  of  brick  and  mortar.  Teachers  and  scholars 
are  turned  into  costly  buildings,  often  elegant  in  design,  and  usu- 
ally lacking  every  kind  of  apparatus  for  tne  prosecution  of  the 
work  of  education.  The  "  system  "  is  left  to  run  itself.  Little 
is  known  of  these  schools  till,  later  in  life,  the  pupil  knows  that 
he  learned  very  little  in  them  of  value  to  him.  The  little  teach- 
ing of  American  history  in  them  is  too  often  of  a  petty  political 
nature,  —  a  mere  brief  of  elections,  administrations,  wars,  and 
victories.  But  the  real  life  of  the  people,  as  it  is  or  has  been,  is 
not  taught.  The  children  know  as  little  of  the  development  of 
our  institutions,  when  they  leave  school,  as  do  the  inhabitants  of 
Lapland.  The  assertion  that  man  is  a  political  being  is  a  plain 
statement,  to  most  people,  during  a  presidential  compaign  ;  but 
that  men  are  political  beings  when  no  election  is  at  hand  means 
nothing  to  them.  When  it  is  known  that  our  school  population 
is  16,243,832,  of  which  only  6,118,331  are  in  actual  daily  attend- 
ance ;  that  among  293,294  public  teachers  not  one  is  for  Amer- 
ican institutions  ;  that  the  children  of  the  country  remain  in 
school,  on  an  average,  not  over  three  years  and  a  half ;  that  only 
about  one-fifth  of  those  in  the  preparatory  schools  reach  the  high 
school,  only  one-sixth  the  college  ;  that  only  one-fourth  of  this 
number  complete  a  college  course  ;  that  sixty  per  cent,  of  the 
pupils  in  our  schools  are  females,  and  that  it  is  rare  to  find  in  them 


a  boy  of  eighteen  years,  the  question  becomes  an  important  one 
whether  our  system  of  public  education  does  what  it  ought  to 
teach  the  children  of  the  nation  the  history  of  our  institutions 
to  the  end  that  the  generation  in  the  schools  may  become  citi- 
zens and  voters  of  intelligence. 

It  is  said,  by  some,  that  the  incidental  instruction  from  news- 
papers, magazines,  books,  lectures,  sermons,  and  conversation,  is 
enough  for  training  in  citizenship.  It  is  an  answer  to  this,  that 
technical  instruction  is  the  only  instruction  that  counts  in  this 
world  ;  general  information  has  little,  if  any,  value  compared 
with  it;  everything  about  something,  not  something  about  every- 
thing, has  been  said,  with  much  truth,  to  be  the  desideratum  in 
education.  The  tendency  of  the  educational  work  of  to-day  is 
toward  specialization.  This  may  be  our  vast  error,  but  it  is  our 
vast  effort. 

Of  the  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  universities  and  colleges  in 
this  country,  the  universities  of  Cornell  and  of  Pennsylvania  have 
professorships  in  American  history ;  at  Columbia,  Yale,  Harvard, 
Johns  Hopkins,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin,1  are  courses  for  under 
graduates  and  for  post-graduates.  The  instruction  at  Yale  is 
chiefly  in  the  history  of  New  England  ;  but  in  the  Law  Depart- 
ment, American  constitutional  history  is  taught. 

At  Columbia,  American  history  is  pursued  as  an  elective,  by  the 
seniors,  for  four  hours  a  week  for  six  months,  and  by  post-graduates 
for  three  hours  a  week  for  one  year.  The  work  is  by  means  of  lect- 
ures, the  use  of  texts, — von  Hoist  and  Bancroft, — original  docu- 
ments, such  as  legislative  records,  executive  reports,  legal  reports, 
both  state  and  national,  memoirs,  pamphlets,  newspapers,  and 
standard  authors, — all  of  which  aid  in  seminary  work.  "  After  the 
casual  nexus  has  been  established,"  says  Professor  Burgess,  "we 
endeavor  to  teach  students  to  look  for  the  institutions  and  ideas 
which  have  been  developed  through  the  sequence  of  events  in 
the  civilization  of  an  age  or  people.  This  I  might  term  the  ulti- 
mate object  of  our  entire  method  of  historical  instruction.  With 
us  history  is  the  chief  preparation  for  the  study  of  the  legal  and 
political  sciences  ;  through  it  we  seek  to  find  the  origin,  follow 
the  growth,  and  learn  the  meaning  of  our  legal,  political,  and 
economic  principles  and  institutions." 

At  Johns  Hopkins,  courses  in  American  history  are  offered  as 

1  No  post-graduate  course. 


(II) 

preparatory  to  the  legal,  editorial,  or  academic  professions,  or  for 
the  public  sen-ice  and  the  duties  of  citizenship;  there  is  an 
undergraduate  course  three  hours  weekly,  during  the  second  half 
of  Ihe  third  year.  The  constitutional  history  of  the  colonial  and 
Revolutionary  periods,  together  with  the  formation  and  adoption 
of  the  present  constitution,  is  first  studied  ;  then  a  brief  series 
of  lectures  is  devoted  to  the  interpretation  of  the  constitution  ; 
the  constitutional,  and  to  some  extent,  the  political  history  of  the 
period,  from  that  time  until  the  close  of  the  period  of  reconstruc- 
tion, is  then  taken  up  ;  the  course  concludes  with  a  series  of  lect- 
ures descriptive  of  the  actual  present  form  of  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  the  government  of  the  states,  and  of  munic- 
ipal and  local  institutions.  In  the  graduate  course  is  the  work 
of  the  seminary  in  American  history  and  economics.  Only  graJ 
uate  students  connected  with  the  university  are  received  as  mem- 
bers of  the  seminary.  The  work  of  this  cooperative  organiza- 
tion of  teachers  and  instructors  in  the  department  of  history 
and  political  science  is  chiefly  devoted  to  original  research,  in 
the  fields  of  American  institutions  and  American  economics. 
The  exercises  of  the  seminary,  which  occupy  two  hours  each 
week,  consist  of  oral  and  written  reports  of  progress,  discussions 
of  these,  and  historical  reviews.  The  work  of  this  seminary, 
which  was  a  departare  in  the  educational  history  of  American 
institutions  of  learning,  finds  its  way  into  magazines,  and  consti- 
tutes the  four  volumes  of  Studies  in  Political  Science  published 
by  the  university.  These  are  now  widely  and  favorably  known, 
and  have  exercised  a  great  influence  in  the  revival  of  historical 
studies  in  this  country.  Of  the  twenty  fellowships  founded  at 
Johns  Hopkins,  two  are  usually  in  history,  and  several  of  the  Fel- 
lows have  worked  almost  exclusively  in  American  history,  and 
have  published  monographs  of  singular  value. 

At  Cornell,  American  history  is  elective  as  a  five  hour-per-week 
study,  during  the  junior  and  senior  years.  Besides  the  use  of 
such  texts  as  Von  Hoist,  lectures  are  given  and  original  docu- 
ments are  consulted.  The  topics  to  which  particular  attention 
is  paid  are  :  The  Mound-builders  and  the  North  American  Indi- 
ans ;  The  Alleged  Pre-Columbian  Discoveries,  the  Origin  and 
Enforcement  of  England's  Claim  to  North  America,  as  against 
Competing  Nations  ;  The  Motives  and  Methods  of  English  Col- 
ony-planting in  America,  in  the  1 7th  and  iSth  Centuries ;  The 
Development  of  Ideas  and  Institutions  in  American  Colonies, 


(12) 

with  particular  reference  to  Religion,  Education,  Industry,  and 
Civil  Freedom  ;  The  Grounds  of  Inter-Colonial  Isolation  and  of 
Inter-Colonial  Fellowship  ;  The  Causes  and  Progress  of  the 
Movement  for  Colonial  Independence  ;  The  History  of  the  For- 
mation of  the  National  Constitution;  The  History  of  Slavery  as 
a  Factor  in  American  Politics,  culminating  in  the  Civil  War  of 
1861-65.  "  In  the  presentation  of  these  topics  the  student  is 
constantly  directed  to  the  original  sources  of  information  con- 
cerning them  and  to  the  true  methods  of  historical  inquiry."  At 
Cornell  special  attention  is  given  to  American  literature  as  an 
element  in  American  history.  Students  have  access  to  original 
sources  of  all  kinds  ;  and,  as  at  Columbia  and  Johns  Hopkins, 
the  number  who  elect  this  subject  is  increasing  year  by  year. 
The  Goldwin  Smith  Fellowship,  in  history  and  political  science, 
affords  opportunity  for  special  work. 

At  Harvard,  American  history  is  studied  by  freshmen  and 
sophomores,  each  three  hours  a  week  through  the  year  ;  but  it  is 
taken  chiefly  by  the  juniors  and  seniors  for  the  same  time.  Post- 
graduates have  a  course  covering  two  years,  with  a  maximum  of 
six  hours  per  week.  The  work  is  done  in  lectures  and  by  the 
study  at  the  same  time  of  Johnston  and  Von  Hoist.  Original 
documents  are  freely  consulted.  The  four  courses  are  four 
"electives." 

(1)  A  course  in  American  and  English  political  institutions, 
designed  as  an  introduction  to  later  courses  and  chiefly  devoted 
to  English  history. 

(2)  A  course  in  colonial  history,  covering  the  period  from  1492 
to  1789,  showing  the  growth  of   the  spirit  of  Union  and  of   the 
institutions  upon  which  the  Union   is   based.     In  this  are  three 
hours  (lectures)  per  week. 

(3)  A  course  devoted  to  the  history  of  the  United  States  proper 
from  1789  to  1861,  three  lectures  per  week. 

(4)  A  course  designed  for  advanced  students  who  are  investi- 
gating the  period  from  1 861  to  the  present  time,  two  hours  per  week. 

If  a  student  were  to  take  all  the  American  history  offered,  he 
would  pursue  the  subject  three  hours  a  week  for  three  years.  A 
considerable  number  do,  in  fact,  spend  at  least  two  years  in  such 
study,  a  fourth  of  their  time  each  year;  the  larger  number  elect 
the  third  course  only.  American  history  is  a  popular  elective, 
and  there  are  several  fellowships  offered  in  which  special  work 
may  be  done. 


(13) 

At  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  there  is  a  special  course  in 
American  history  in  the  Wharton  School.  This  school,  which  is 
one  of  the  colleges  in  the  University,  aims  to  give  a  thorough 
general  and  professional  training  to  young  men  who  intend  to 
engage  in  business,  or  upon  whom  will  devolve  the  management 
of  property,  or  to  persons  who  are  preparing  for  the  legal  pro- 
fession, for  journalism,  for  an  academic  career,  or  for  the  public 
service.  The  study  begins  in  the  sophomore  year  two  hours  a 
week ;  for  the  first  year  the  text  is  Schouler,  and  the  study  is  of 
a  geographical  and  economical  character.  Students  are  trained 
to  consult  some  original  authorities.  In  the  junior  y&x  Johnston 
is  used  as  an  outline  three  hours  a  week ;  the  seniors  take  up 
Bancroft's  Constitution,  and  later,  Von  Hoist,  four  hours  per  week. 
The  chief  work  of  this  class  is  the  preparation  of  papers  from 
time  to  time  from  original  authorities  on  the  leading  questions 
that  have  come  before  the  American  people.  The  post-graduate 
courses  cover  two  years,  with  no  limit  of  hours,  in  American 
History,  and,  in  1885,  the  University  founded  six  fellowships, 
known  as  the  Wharton  Fellowships,  in  American  History  and 
Economics.  As  at  Harvard  and  at  Columbia,  courses  of  lect- 
ures in  American  constitutional  law  are  open  in  the  law  de- 
partment to  special  and  graduate  students  in  American  History. 
The  feature  of  the  work  at  Pennsylvania  is  the  high  place 
given  to  the  study  of  original  authorities  over  formal  his 
tories ;  these  latter  are  considered  in  their  true  value,  but 
students  are  required  to  consult  original  papers  when  possible 
rather  than  these  histories.  By  original  documents  is  meant, — 
the  annals,  debates,  records,  journals,  reports,  and  publications 
of  Congress  ;  judicial  reports,  both  State  and  Federal ;  pamphlets, 
newspapers,  executive  documents  and  texts  of  treaties.  More 
time  is  given  to  the  study  of  American  History  and  Economics 
at  Pennsylvania  than  at  any  other  university  in  this  country. 
Besides  this  above  indicated,  the  juniors  have  American  Institu- 
tional History  three  hours  a  week  during  the  first  half  of  the  year 
and  two  hours  a  week  during  the  second  half ;  the  seniors  have, 
also,  in  addition  to  that  mentioned,  one  hour  per  week  in  Amer- 
ican Financial  History,  and  two  hours  a  week  in  American  Eco- 
nomic History  through  the  year.  In  all,  the  work  in  American 
History  and  Economics  covers  four  and  three-fourths  hours  a 
week  for  four  years  exclusive  of  the  post-graduate  work  or  of  the 


(14) 

lectures  in  American  constitutional  law  in  the  law  department. 
At  Pennsylvania  American  History  and  Economics  are  required  ; 
but  the  results  both  at  Harvard  and  at  Pennsylvania  show  that 
the  work  in  the  two  universities  proceeds  by  common  principles 
along  a  common  course.  In  the  work  in  American  History  and 
Economics  at  Pennsylvania  during  the  past  year  a  new  feature 
has  been  the  college  congress,  consisting  of  two  houses  with 
their  various  officers  and  committees  before  whom  and  by  whom 
the  work  of  the  department  has  been  assigned,  discussed,  studied, 
reported,  and  learned.  The  professor  of  American  History  has 
controlled  the  procedure  of  this  embryonic  legislative  study  and 
work,  and  the  result  of  the  experiment  proves  that  this  means  of 
studying  our  institutions  has  its  value. 

The  work  in  American  History  at  Harvard  under  Dr.  Albert 
Bushnell  Hart,  and  at  Pennsylvania  under  the  direction  of  the 
historian,  John  Bach  McMaster,  proceeds,  to  use  the  language  of 
Von  Ranke,  "to  tell  just  how  things  came  ab'out."  History  is 
the  development  of  the  life  of  the  nation.  It  does  not  begin,  as 
taught  there,  by  assuming  to  know  just  how  things  came  about ; 
history  is  not  forced  into  an  empiricism  ;  its  own  mirror  it  holds 
up  to  the  organic  life  of  the  nation  and  the  historian,  and  the 
student  of  history  must  tell  of  that  life  as  he  sees  it,  and  not 
merely  as  he  desires  to  see  it.  The  people  are  greater  than  the 
camp,  and  the  mind  of  the  people  than  the  mind  of  its  legislators. 
However  vain  and  idle  that  thought,  it  has  influenced  our  insti- 
tutions. At  Harvard  and  at  Pennsylvania  the  student,  as  he 
pursues  his  course  in  American  History,  has  put  into  his  hand 
a  set  of  outlines  for  his  guidance ;  those  by  Dr.  Hart  are  pub- 
lished ;  those  by  Prof.  McMaster  are  in  manuscript.  As  an  index 
to  the  work  attempted  in  these  two  universities  we  give  a  brief 
account  of  the  Harvard  plan.  It  may  be  said  to  represent  the 
best  attempts  now  making  in  our  schools  in  the  study  of  Amer- 
ican institutions,  and  is  substantially  an  outline  of  the  courses 
and  the  work  at  Columbia,  Cornell,  and  Johns  Hopkins. 

Dr.  Hart's  outlines  are  used  during  the  lecture  by  the  student 
as  an  analysis  for  him  of  the  subject  under  consideration,  and  as 
an  aid  to  him  in  his  readings.  Three  sets  of  these  are  given  : 
general,  required,  and  detailed.  Every  student  is  expected  to 
make  himself  familiar  with  the  first  and  second.  The  outlines 
enter  into  the  subject  so  as  to  bring  before  the  student  the  polit- 


(ISJ 

ical,  economical,  financial,  physical,  and  legal  history  of  the  Amer- 
ican people.  The  courses  aim  to  present  the  whole  life  of  the 
nation.  For  instance,  in  studying  the  period  from  1750  to  1789, 
the  period  when  the  colonies  separated  from  England,  for  a  gen- 
eral view  the  reference  is  to  Doyle's  History  of  the  United  States, 
202-284,  and  to  Story's  Commentaries  on  the  Constitution  Sections, 
198-305, — in  all  150  pp.  Bancroft  Library 

There  are  five  lectures  on  the  period  1750-1755,  taking  up  the 
Constitution  of  England  and  of  the  colonies.  The  required  read- 
ings are, — Bancroft  (10  vol.  edition),  V.  32-78  (95  pp.)  ;  Green, 
— History  of  the  English  People,  IV.  166-171,  197-200  (40  pp.)  ; 
May, — Constitutional  History  of  England,  II.  510-546,  Ch.  XVII. 
(35  PP-)  Five  lectures  on  the  period  1753-1763,  on  the  subject 
of  the  exclusion  of  the  French  from  North  America,  with  refer- 
ences to  Bancroft,  Bryant  and  Gay,  Hildreth,  and  Parkman.  Nine 
lectures  on  Difficulties  with  the  Home  Government,  1760-1774, 
with  references  to  Bancroft,  Bryant  and  Gay,  Hildreth,  Frothing- 
ingham's  Rise  of  the  Republic,  and  Leckey's  History  of  England 
in  the  Eighteenth  Century.  On  the  Revolution,  1774-1783  ; 
eleven  lectures,  with  references  to  Bryant  and  Gay,  Curtis'  Con- 
stitution^ Frothingham,  Green,  Lecky,  and  Gilman's  History  of  the 
American  People;  seven  lectures  on  the  confederation,  1781- 
1787,  with  references  to  Bancroft,  Curtis,  Hildreth,  and  Mc- 
Master's  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States  ;  on  the  period 
of  the  making  of  the  Constitution,  nine  lectures,  1786-1789,  with 
references  to  Bancroft,  Curtis,  Hildreth,  Elliott's  Debates,  Me- 
Master,  Rive's  Madison,  Frothingham,  Schouler,  and  Von  Hoist. 
This  "  outline  "  of  colonial  history  makes  a  pamphlet  of  sixty-four 
pages,  of  which  the  selection  here  given  makes  about  two  pages. 
The  "  outline "  in  constitutional  and  political  history  of  the 
United  States  for  the  period  1789-1861  is  a  pamphlet  of  eighty- 
two  pages  and  represents  the  course  for  the  first  half  of  the  pres- 
ent year.  Johnson's  Politics  is  the  required  text,  but  the  student 
is  advised  to  own  one  of  the  following  sets :  Von  Hoist,  5  vols.  ; 
American  Statesmen,  14  vols.  ;  Schouler's  History,  3  vols.  ;  Hil- 
dreth, second  series,  3  vols. ;  Greeley's  American  Conflict,  Vol.  I. 
These  outlines,  which  are  protected  by  copyright,  are  about  to  be 
published  by  the  author  in  more  complete  form,  and  their  useful- 
ness will  insure  them  wide  adoption  in  this  country.  It  is  such 
an  outline  that  is  needed  in  the  private  library  of  the  lawyer  and 


by  every  other  student  of  American  affairs.  Dr.  Hart  has  simply 
given  us  a  digest  of  accessible  authorities  in  the  domain  of 
American  history.  These  authorities  may  be  summed  as  follows  : 
Personal  reminiscences,  such  as  letters,  the  works  of  statesmen, 
memoirs,  and  autobiographies.  Unconscious  authorities,  such 
as  travels,  general  literature,  magazines,  newspapers,  and  the 
publications  of  societies.  Constitutional  treatises,  such  as  com- 
mentaries on  the  constitution  and  criticisms  by  Americans  and 
by  foreigners ;  local  histories,  special  histories,  such  as  financial, 
military,  political,  literary,  and  economic  histories  ;  compilations, 
such  as  manuals  and  text-books  ;  geographies,  the  census  reports, 
and  formal  treatises  of  a  sociological  nature ;  official  records  of 
government,  journals  of  legislative  bodies,  annals,  debates,  and 
records  of  Congress ;  public  documents,  congressional  reports, 
American  state  papers,  department  publications ;  legal  reports 
of  decisions  handed  down  both  in  the  state  and  in  the  federal 
courts  ;  laws  of  the  states  and  of  the  United  States. 

At  the  University  of  Wisconsin  American  History  and  Eco- 
nomics together  are  given  two  hours  a  week  of  the  twelve  hours 
given  to  all  the  history  taken.  There  are  no  set  lectures ;  the 
juniors  take  the  subject  as  a  required  study  ;  there  is  no  provision 
for  advanced  historical  work  in  fellowships  or  in  special  scholar- 
ships ;  the  seminary  methods  are  not  in  operation  as  such,  but 
the  classes  are  instructed  in  that  method  to  "  some  extent."  It 
is  the  opinion  at  Wisconsin  that  the  preparatory  schools  do  pre- 
pare students  as  well  in  American  History  as  in  Latin  or  math- 
ematics. The  use  of  original  authorities,  which  are  accessible, 
is  recommended. 

At  the  University  of  Michigan  the  course  in  American  History 
is  as  follows  :  First  semester, — constitutional  history  of  the  United 
States,  two  hours  a  week  ;  American  constitutional  law,  one  hour 
a  week ;  taxation  (Economic  History),  two  hours  a  week.  Second 
semester, — Historical  seminary,  two  hours  a  week  ;  constitutional 
history  and  constitutional  law  of  the  United  States,  two  hours 
a  week.  Total  for  the  year,  four  and  one-half  hours  a  week 
through  the  year.  There  are  no  fellowships  in  history,  nor  special 
scholarships  for  students  in  history.  "  The  greater  part  of  our 
historical  work,"  says  Professor  Hudson,  "is  done  by  lectures. 
In  some  lecture  courses  a  short  time  is  taken  up  each  hour  in 
questioning  students  upon  the  preceding  lecture ;  in  others,  an 


(17) 

hour  a  week  is  devoted  to  questioning  students  on  the  lectures 
of  the  week,  or  upon  lectures  and  text-books."  Critical  use  is 
made  of  original  documents,  which  are  freely  accessible  to  his- 
torical students.  It  was  at  Michigan  that  the  Historical  Seminary 
was  first  introduced  in  this  country  by  Professor,  now  President 
C.  K.  Adams,  of  Cornell  University.  The  principal  text-book  at 
Michigan  is  Von  Hoist,  and  in  this  place  it  is  proper  to  mention 
that  Von  Hoist  dedicates  his  great  work  to  Judge  Cooley,  now 
professor  of  history  at  Michigan. 

It  is  the  opinion  at  Michigan  that  the  teaching  of  American 
history  in  preparatory  schools  is  no  doubt  inferior  to  the  instruc- 
tion in  Latin  and  mathematics  ;  but  the  prospect  of  improvement 
in  this  preparatory  work  is  encouraging.  Cambridge,  Phila- 
delphia, New  York,  and  Baltimore  afford  peculiar  facilities  for 
the  study  of  American  history.  In  the  various  libraries  in  these 
cities  may  be  found  the  greater  part  of  the  authorities  here  out- 
lined. It  cannot  be  said  that  at  the  present  time  any  one  of  the 
universities  in  the  country  offers  exclusive  privileges  in  Amer- 
ican history  because  not  one  of  them  is  fully  equipped  in  that 
department.  Such  an  equipment  would  place  in  the  library  of 
the  University  all  the  authorities  needed  in  the  prosecution  of 
the  work.  Those  authorities  would  fully  set  forth  the  life  of  the 
nation  politically  and  economically.  Our  history  is  not  in  Con- 
gress alone ;  that  is,  indeed,  a  very  small  part  of  it.  Our  dis- 
coveries, our  inventions,  our  agrarian  interests,  our  settlements 
westward,  our  educational  affairs,  the  work  of  the  church,  the 
organization  of  charities,  the  growth  of  corporations,  the  conflict 
of  races  and  for  races,  at  times  in  our  history,  are  all  sources  for 
research ;  but  in  addition  to  an  exhaustive  library  is  needed 
the  man  who  can  and  will  use  it ;  he  may  be  teacher  or  the 
taught;  if  the  teacher,  then  one  who  by  long  training  has  pre- 
pared himself  for  the  task  ;  if  the  taught,  then  he  who  is  in- 
spired with  the  love  of  country,  of  American  institutions,  and 
above  all,  of  truth,  however  it  must  change  accepted  notions. 
An  adequate  foundation  for  the  prosecution  of  studies  in  Amer- 
ican institutions  can  alone  be  made  at  the  University.  It  is  not 
called  for  in  schools  below  that  rank.  History  becomes  a  tech- 
nical study,  and  it  must  be  pursued  as  such.  The  course  in  our 
higher  institutions  must  accommodate  two  classes  of  students, — 
those  who  intend  to  make  special  study  of  history -and  those  who 


pursue  it  as  a  portion  of  that  liberal  course  for  the  training  for 
citizenship.  The  universities  must  make  provision  for  the  train- 
ing of  teachers  and  for  the  training  of  those  who  are  not  to  be 
come  teachers  of  history.  The  respective  courses  for  these  two 
classes  must  differ  from  each  other. 

The  Johns  Hopkins  University  may  claim  the  historic  honor 
of  perfecting  the  seminary  method  of  research  in  American  his- 
tory. That  is  now  the  method  in  each  of  the  leading  universities 
in  the  country.  It  is  essentially  the  methods  of  biology  applied 
to  history.  From  this  it  has  followed  that  history  as  a  univer- 
sity study  has  had  in  our  day  its  renaissance  in  this  country. 
In  providing  a  course  in  American  History  in  the  lower  schools 
chief  attention  must  be  given  to  the  study  of  our  economic  his- 
tory. Of  the  text-books  now  used  in  these  schools,  that  by  John- 
ston, called  The  History  '"of  the  United  States,  is  by  far  the  best. 
It  is  the  opinion  of  the  professors  of  history  at  Columbia,  Cornell, 
and  Pennsylvania,  that  all  instruction  in  American  History  for 
those  intending  to  enter  college  should  be  omitted  in  the  common 
schools.  The  professors  at  Harvard  and  at  Johns  Hopkins  favor 
the  retaining  of  the  study  in  these  schools  for  all.  It  cannot  be 
doubted  that  careful  training  in  Johnston's  Outlines,  or  its  equiv- 
alent, would  be  a  gain  for  those  colleges  which  have  courses  in 
American  History  ;  such  training  in  the  preparatory  school  would 
save  at  least  one  year  at  college  and  would  be  a  fit  introduction 
to  the  extended  college  course.  At  present  in  more  than  two 
hundred  and  fifty  of  the  colleges  and  universities  of  the  country 
American  History  is  only  a  one-term  study,  introduced  in  order 
to  give  the  seniors  an  opportunity  to  read  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  in  connection  with  a  course  of  lectures  upon  that 
subject  The  universities  which  offer  courses  in  American  His- 
tory differ  widely  in  the  amount  offered ;  for  instance,  Harvard 
offers  in  all  history  twenty-four  hours  a  week,  of  which  at  least 
eleven  are  in  American  history ;  Pennsylvania  offers  twenty- 
three  hours  in  all  history,  of  which  nineteen  are  for  the  study  of 
American  institutions  ;  and  Wisconsin  offers  twelve  hours  in  all 
history,  of  which  two  are  in  American  institutions. 

The  maximum  of  opportunity  for  studying  American  institu- 
tions is  at  present  to  be  found  at  Harvard,  Pennsylvania,  Johns 
Hopkins,  Columbia,  and  Cornell.  Three  hours  a  week  for  three 
years  is  the  time  devoted  to  American  history  at  Harvard  ;  and 


(19) 

when  the  rosters  of  the  colleges  of  the  country  are  read,  it  will 
be  found  that  the  minimum,  and  the  prevailing  course,  is  for  one 
term  two  hours  a  week,  or  for  three  months. 

The  present  status  of  this  study  for  undergraduates  in  Amer 
ican  schools  is  not  high.  The  public  schools,  conducted  at  great 
cost,  in  many  sections  of  the  country,  do  almost  nothing  in  teaching 
American  history.  In  the  colleges  this  subject  is  attached  somewhat 
curiously  to  other  studies.  Thus  we  find  history  and  Latin,  history 
and  mathematics  history  and  literature,  history  and  a  modern  lan- 
guage, history  and  one  of  the  sciences  taught  by  the  same  profes 
sor.  It  is  evident  that  the  best  work  in  the  department  of  history 
is  to  be  expected  only  when  that  department  is  under  the  direc- 
tion of  a  trained  mind.  It  must  have  a  recognized  place  among 
the  departments.  So  long  as  history  has  not  attained  this  place 
in  our  educational  institutions,  it  is  premature  to  ask  that  history 
ifself  should  be  subdivided  into  its  own  departments.  For  the 
present,  and  perhaps  for  many  years  to  come,  it  is  only  the 
larger  and  richer  universities  that  will  endow  chairs  of  American 
history.  The  other  colleges  will  doubtless  unite  history  and 
political  science  into  one  department.  But  as  the  country 
increases  in  wealth  the  friends  of  university  education  will  found 
chairs  of  American  history.  In  that  direction  lies  the  future  of 
our  educational  courses  to  this  extent,  that  all  the  training  for 
citizenship  that  can  be  obtained  at  college  must  be  found  in  this 
department.  This  is  its  just  claim  for  introduction  as  a  college 
course,  that  it  trains  for  intelligent  citizenship  Not  that  we  do 
not  have  such  a.  citizenship,  in  part,  now ;  but  of  our  ten  millions 
of  voters,  how  small  the  number  who  are  qualified  to  fill  the 
offices  to  which  they  elect  others.  That  is  an  ideal  citizenship 
that  can  fill  any  office  within  its  own  gift.  A  man  should  be 
able  to  take  upon  himself  the  duties  of  any  office  to  which  he 
elects  another.  This,  the  work  of  tht  undergraduate  course, 
should  be  offered  by  every  American  college.  Now  that  we 
are  at  last,  in  our  own  judgment,  a  nation,  we  cannot  escape, 
any  more  than  we  have  escaped  the  responsibilities  of  nation- 
ality. We  are  a  problem  unto  ourselves.  Life  is  no  longer  a 
colonial  existence.  Our  national  difficulties  are  quite  like  those 
of  other  nations.  We  have  land  and  labor  questions  to  solve, 
and  that  quickly.  We  have  questions  of  race  and  of  race  privi 
lege  of  great  magnitude.  Shall  the  nation  educate  the  nation's 


(20) 

own  ?  Shall  the  nation  put  the  great  corporations  under  federal 
control  ?  Does  the  right  to  regulate  inter-state  commerce  reach 
so  far  as  this?  We,  a  nation,  inherit  both  good  and  evil  ;  and  if 
we  let  the  evil  prevail,  then  "  after  us  the  deluge." 

For  the  technical  training  in  history  there  is  needed  in  our 
universities  both  scholarships  and  fellowships,  the  income  of 
which  will  permit  men  of  special  aptitude  to  pursue  advanced 
studies.  Technical  work  in  American  institutions  must  proceed 
like  technical  work  in  law  or  in  medicine.  There  are  at  present 
about  fifty  fellowships  at  American  universities.  In  the  effort  to 
introduce  a  reform  in  the  study  of  American  institutions,  the 
work  must  begin  in  the  higher  schools  and  work  down  into 
the  lower.  All  reforms  have  proceeded  in  that  way.  When  the 
universities  can  offer  advanced  courses  in  such  subjects  as  Amer- 
ican history  and  economics,  then  the  undergraduate  courses  will 
be  of  relative  value  and  extent. 

In  the  training  for  teaching  history  we  cannot  base  our  work 
upon  American  institutions  as  our  leading  study.  American 
history  is  only  the  part  of  a  whole.  It  cannot  be  made  to  take 
the  place  of  the  history  of  Europe,  As  a  subject  for  philosoph- 
ical investigation,  American  history  cannot  yet  compare  with 
that  of  Greece  or  Rome.  It  is  from  those  nations  that  have  run 
a  course,  that  have  completed  a  system,  that  we  must  obtain  our 
philosophy  of  history ;  and  our  own  history  can  be  made  only  to 
supplement  the  teachings  of  that  philosophy.  Therefore,  the 
technical  student  of  history  must  study  the  world  as  the  nation 
of  nations,  and  view  citizenship  from  the  vantage  ground  of  the 
universal  citizen.  He  must  rise  to  that  moral  elevation  that  he 
ran  see  man  brother  to  man,  and  his  interests,  not  as  those  of 
the  American  nor  of  the  Roman,  but  as  of  man  himself.  The 
history  of  American  institutions  has  its  beginnings  far  up  toward 
the  sources  of  the  stream  of  time.  The  end  of  historical  inves- 
tigation that  purposes  to  give  the  power  to  direct  others  to 
understand  their  institutions  from  a  national  point  of  view,  is  to 
see  man  in  his  ultimate  interests  as  man,  and  yet  to  view  him  as 
an  individual  and  simple  factor  in  the  moral  force  of  the  world. 
Thus  the  study  of  history  at  the  university  requires  for  the  best 
results  such  an  equipment  of  the  historical  department  as  not 
one  of  our  universities  can,  at  present,  give.  But  we  are 
moving  toward  this  consummation  ;  and  in  the  universities  whose 

I 


(31) 

courses  we  have  attempted  to  ouilinc,  so  far  as  they  are  in  Amer- 
ican institutions,  will  certainly  be  found,  in  time,  ample  provision 
for  the  prosecution  of  history  as  a  science.  At  the  present  time 
Harvard  affords  the  greatest  opportunities  in  this  direction  of 
any  of  the  universities  in  the  country.  But  the  privileges  at 
these  respective  seats  of  learning  are  not  equal,  and  each  has 
opportunities  and  facilities  which  the  other  does  not  offer.  The 
student  must  know  what  he  wants  before  he  can  select  the  uni- 
versity at  which  to  pursue  historical  studies. 

From  this  brief  review  of  the  status  of  the  study  of  American 
history  in  our  schools,  at  the  present  time,  we  conclude : 

The  course  of  study  in  the  public  schools  should  afford  and 
require  the  study  of  American  institutions  for  at  least  one-fourth 
of  the  time  the  child  is  in  school.  Political  history,  as  such, 
should  be  made  subordinate  to  economic  and  social  history.  The 
aim  of  the  instruction  should  be  to  acquaint  the  child  with  accu- 
rate knowledge  of  the  nature  of  American  citizenship  and  of  the 
duties  he  must  assume  as  a  part  of  the  state.  The  instruction 
should  develop  in  the  child's  mind  the  historic  growth  of  the 
nation. 

In  the  public  schools  should  be  special  teachers  of  American 
History  and  Economics.  The  colleges  and  the  normal  schools 
should  train  such  teachers. 

The  text-books  in  the  public  schools  should  treat  chiefly  of  the 
history  of  the  United  States  so  far  as  they  treat  of  American 
history.  The  nation  should  be  the  great  theme.  There  should 
be  accessible  in  these  schools  a  selection  of  historical  material, — 
documents,  treatises,  reports,  reviews,  maps,  newspapers,  books 
of  travel,  —  economic  material,  for  the  use  of  teachers  and 
students. 

Every  college  should  offer  an  undergraduate  course  in  Amer- 
ican History  and  Economics  of  at  least  two  years,  three  hours  a 
week.  The  work  outlined  at  Harvard  and  at  Pennsylvania  may 
be  taken  as  indicative  of  what  the  work  should  be  in  method  and 
treatment. 

The  great  universities  of  the  country  should  afford  opportuni- 
nities  for  the  technical  study  of  American  history.  They 
should  offer  a  limited  number  of  scholarships  and  fellowships 
for  the  benefit  of  any  who  are  qualified  and  desire  to  make  tech- 
nical study  of  our  own  institutions,  and  who  otherwise  are  unable 


(22) 

to  pursue  such  investigations.  It  is  to  the  great  universities  of 
the  land  that  we  must  look  for  courses  in  the  philosophy  of  his- 
tory, and  in  all  history. 

It  is  in  justice  to  the  nation  that  the  youth  of  our  land  become 
familiar  with  the  story  of  popular  government  in  this  Western 
world.  It  is  from  such  careful  study  of  our  own  institutions 
that  we  may  understand  the  nature  of  our  national  life,  may 
learn  the  sacrifice  by  which  it  has  been  sustained,  may  learn  the 
watchful  care  by  which  it  can  be  sustained,  and,  above  all,  learn 
to  avoid  the  commission  of  those  errors  which  have,  of  old, 
proven  the  rocks  upon  which  nations  may  be  wrecked. 


^WK 

' 


